


Murmured Magic Words

by liketolaugh



Series: Speak [2]
Category: D.Gray-man, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Hogwarts AU, I'm gonna try to do this differently okay, It shouldn't be hard since I haven't read a DGM Hogwarts AU of this sort, M/M, at all, save me from this fandom hell
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-21
Updated: 2016-06-25
Packaged: 2018-06-09 18:40:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6918619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/liketolaugh/pseuds/liketolaugh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In Allen's fourth year, two things happen. One, the Triwizard Tournament. Two, Link becomes Professor Snape's apprentice. Only one of these things directly affects Allen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

One good thing about having no one to see you off, it was always easy to find a compartment.

Allen boarded the train with his trunk and found a compartment not far from the door, lifting it onto the rack before he took a seat by the window.

Kanda would be on first, he figured, and then probably Lavi, and Lenalee last of all, because it was just that hard to get Komui to stop crying long enough for her to board.

Allen smiled at the window.

Allen’s house (well known thanks to the distinctness of his, ah, features) would keep most of the people away while he waited for Kanda, and then Kanda’s reputation would keep out anyone else who might try, which meant Lavi and Lenalee could join them.

Allen didn’t have a problem with people, of course - unlike most of his housemates, he enjoyed socializing with the other houses, mostly because he could charm them into forgetting that he was a Slytherin - but he had to admit, he always preferred to spend the ride to Hogwarts with his friends. (That first train ride had been utterly miserable until Lavi found him.)

Sure enough, Kanda stormed in a few minutes later, practically throwing his trunk onto the rack and plonking himself down opposite Allen, scowling at him in challenge. Allen raised an eyebrow back, concealing the twitch of amusement at the corner of his mouth.

“Rough time?” he asked the seventh-year Gryffindor sardonically.

“The fucking old man would  _ not let go,”  _ Kanda growled irritably, tossing his ponytail over his shoulder. “It’s fucking  _ humiliating.  _ I’m not a goddamn first year anymore!”

“He’s going to miss you when you move out,” Allen chuckled. Kanda rolled his eyes.

“He’s gonna send me  _ Howlers,”  _ Kanda complained.  _ “Friendly  _ Howlers. That I’ll have to open if I don’t want my goddamn house burned down.” He considered. “I could just let the house burn down.”

“Don’t let the house burn down,” Allen advised.

“Shut the fuck up. What do you know?” Kanda rolled his eyes and also looked out the window.

“I know that you would bitterly regret it if you let your house burn down,” Allen snorted, copying both motions. There was Komui, crying all over an exasperated Lenalee. In this crowd, they didn’t even draw a second glance. “It doesn’t take a Ravenclaw to figure that out.” He glanced briefly at Kanda, smirking. “Just a Gryffindor to forget it.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Kanda repeated grumpily.

“What are you two arguing about this time?” Lavi wondered, sliding the door open and closed in almost less time than it took him to get inside. He tossed his trunk up and plopped beside Kanda, raising his eyebrows, mouth stretched in an amused smirk.

“Kanda’s being a reckless idiot,” Allen said tartly, while Kanda snapped,

“The beansprout’s trying to tell me how to live my life.”

“Please be a little less stereotypical,” Lavi requested, and then studied both of them, snorted, and corrected, “Then again, I’m not sure that’s possible.”

Allen smiled at him innocently and Kanda rolled his eyes.

“Looking forward to your seventh year?” Allen asked Lavi, who grinned and leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms behind his head.

“Am I ever!” he grinned. “One more year of boring easy classes, and then I can finally get my mastery in History!”

“Mastery in  _ History,”  _ Kanda muttered scathingly.

“Don’t knock it,” Lavi objected, crossing his legs with another smirk. “History is  _ great,  _ thanks.”

Lavi was  _ such _ a Ravenclaw, Allen couldn’t even begin to explain.

Allen was just starting to worry that Lenalee was going to miss the train when she finally appeared, breathless and with exasperation still lingering on her features.

“Sorry I’m late, my brother-”

“We could see you from here,” Allen interrupted with a small, comforting smile. Lenalee sighed, put up her trunk, and sat beside him, shaking her head despairingly.

“I’ll never understand him, I really won’t.”

Allen laughed.

Seeing his friends again was always his favorite thing about returning to Hogwarts.

* * *

 

Even in the rush to escape the rain, Allen paused by the carriages to pat the thestral reassuringly.

“You’ll be able to get to the forest soon,” he told the beast. “At least you don’t have fur or feathers, you can’t get  _ that  _ wet.” He shook his head roughly, and his sodden hair moved hardly at all. The thestral nudged its head into his hand mournfully.

“Get your ass in here, beansprout!” Kanda snapped from inside the carriage. “God, you _always_ do this.”

Allen scowled and straightened up, glowering at Kanda even as he climbed in. “Just because  _ you  _ like to ignore the thestrals doesn’t mean  _ I  _ have to be an uncivilized  _ arse,”  _ he muttered scathingly.

“Hey, hey,” Lavi protested, waving his hands. “Save it for the hallways, won’t you?”

“It’s useless, they can’t hold it in or they’ll explode,” Lenalee said with a small, rueful smile.

“Hey!” Allen protested.

The four of them went quiet as the castle approached, and Allen smiled warmly. (Hogwarts was his home in a way that no one place had ever been before.)

Lenalee leaned forward slightly, eying the large doors thoughtfully.

“We’ll be soaked all over again by the time we get in there,” she sighed.

“I know a drying charm,” Lavi offered instantly. “It’d suck to have to sit through the feast soaking wet.”

Kanda grunted. “Well, wait ‘til we’re inside. And don’t use it on me, I can dry my own damn self and I don’t trust you.”

Lavi grinned. “Why, Yuu, I’m hurt!”

_ “Don’t call me that!” _

Lenalee blocked Kanda from being able to reach Lavi to strangle him and smiled. “That would be wonderful, Lavi, thank you.”

“Anything for a pretty lady, Lena!” Lavi said cheerfully, and then, to Allen, “You’re on your own, sorry, buddy. I don’t swing that way.”

Allen tilted his head and smiled, and Lavi felt chills run down his back.

“You wouldn’t deny a good friend a simple charm, would you, Lavi?” Allen asked sweetly, with wide, innocent eyes and a sugary smile.

“No!” Lavi said hastily, waving his hands again frantically. “No, not at all, don’t be silly! We’re friends, right? Right?”

“Of course,” Allen agreed easily, and Lavi let out a sigh of relief.

“You’re scary,” he muttered crankily. Lenalee laughed at him. Lavi felt that she did not properly appreciate the hazards of Black Allen.

Kanda did, though, because despite how much shit he talked about Allen, he spent more time fighting him than anyone else, and he knew better than anyone what kind of person he was; he was eying Allen suspiciously and surreptitiously scooting away.

The carriage finally rumbled to a halt, and Allen glanced at Kanda, who looked at Lavi, who nudged Lenalee.

At the same time, all of them hopped out of the carriage and ran up the steps and through the doors. Lavi may or may not have tried to trip Kanda, and Kanda may or may not have tried to punch him for it.

They were greeted with, “PEEVES! Peeves, come down here at ONCE!”

Lavi cackled and pointed at McGonagall, who was running full-tilt out of the Great Hall, only to slip on the wet floor and catch herself around Hermione Granger’s neck.

“Oh dear,” Lenalee murmured, hiding a smile. “That looks like it hurt.” Hermione was rubbing her throat gingerly, eyes still carefully on Peeves.

A water balloon sailed toward them, and Kanda’s wand was out in an instant. The balloon burst under his Diffindo (Allen swore up and down Kanda was going to kill someone with that thing one day) and water sprayed everywhere, making the balloon somewhat redundant. Kanda bit out an annoyed curse.

“Peeves, get down here NOW!” snapped McGonagall, ignoring the byplay admirably despite having been caught in the spray of water.

“Not doing nothing!” Peeves cackled, throwing another water bomb. “Already wet, aren’t they? Little squirts! Wheeeeeeeeee!”

“I’ll kill him,” Kanda snarled. “I swear I’ll kill him.”

“Hey, cool it, Yuu,” Lavi protested, holding his hands up. “It’s just some harmless fun! Drying charms? Remember?”

Kanda scowled at him.

“I shall call the headmaster!” threatened McGonagall. “I’m warning you, Peeves-”

Peeves stuck out his tongue, threw the remaining water bombs, and fled while everyone scattered away from them.

“Well, move along, then!” McGonagall told the lingering students sharply. “Into the Great Hall, come on!”

“You’d think she’d be more used to dealing with pranksters,” Allen commented, chuckling quietly. Lenalee smiled ruefully.

“Mostly she’s just fed up with them,” she admitted. “It doesn’t help that she secretly likes them, when they’re not too disruptive.”

The boys stared at her.

“What,” Kanda said flatly.

“Come on!” Lenalee said to Lavi instead of bothering with a reply. She shook her wet robes pointedly. “You promised me dry clothes.”

“So I did,” Lavi agreed cheerfully. He took his wand out with a flourish and flicked it at Lenalee, who almost instantly sighed in relief. When Allen cleared his throat pointedly, he hastily did the same for him, and then himself.

“Show-off,” Kanda muttered, drying himself off with a slower version of the charm.

“Hey, I offered,” Lavi protested, smirking nonetheless.

In the Great Hall, they split up to their different House tables - Kanda and Lenalee to Gryffindor, Lavi to Ravenclaw, and Allen to Slytherin, where he sat by Theodore Nott, who, while not particularly friendly, was at least not antagonistic. (Being of unknown blood status may put you above the average Muggleborn in the eyes of blood purists, but it certainly didn’t endear you to them.)

The Sorting began, and Allen obediently clapped for each new student, smiling slightly. Still, it had been a long train ride, and he was hungry, so when Dumbledore finally said the words “Tuck in!” he was nothing less than relieved.

“Slob,” Nott muttered, the first word he’d said since Allen had sat down.

“Hello to you too,” Allen told him cheerfully, and continued to dig in. Nott rolled his eyes, but didn't look too bothered.

* * *

 

“So!” said Dumbledore, when at last the feast was over and even Allen was full. “Now that we are all fed and watered, I must once more ask for your attention, while I give out a few notices. Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you that the list of objects forbidden inside the castle has this year been extended to include…”

Allen let his gaze wander as Dumbledore spoke, though he kept one ear on the proceedings.

The Defense teacher didn’t seem to have arrived yet, he noted, but there was a new face at the staff table nonetheless - a blond boy who easily could’ve passed for a seventh year, sitting at one end of the table, keeping to himself.

Allen’s attention was drawn back to Dumbledore as he continued, “Some of you may have noticed an unusually young gentleman at the staff table. Howard Link, please stand, if you will.”

The blond boy looked mortified, but he stood up nonetheless, fixing his gaze resolutely on the students before him. Dumbledore smiled.

“He is Professor Snape’s apprentice this year, and will be acting as a teacher’s assistant of sorts. He has the same authority as a Head Boy, so please be respectful and welcoming.” He chuckled. “I know it must be hard to return for an eighth year here.” He nodded at Howard, who sat down and then promptly pretended not to exist. Allen chuckled quietly.

Dumbledore continued. “It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year…”


	2. Chapter 2

Allen was always the last in his dorm to fall asleep and the first to wake up. If this hadn’t been among the least significant of his traits, it might have earned him a nickname. As it was, most of the negative attention remained on his hair and his scar - it was a testament to Harry Potter’s infamy within Slytherin house that the epithet ‘scarface’ had gone to the Gryffindor instead. Allen still winced every time he heard it, directed at him or not.

Allen pulled on his robe, glanced around at the drawn curtains of his housemates, suppressed an amused smile, and stood up to head for the Great Hall.

Even this early in the day, there were a fair few people at breakfast. He could see Kanda, as early a riser as Allen himself, at the Gryffindor table, and, he noticed with interest, Howard Link as well, at the Hufflepuff one - perhaps sitting at the staff table had simply been a formality. He was talking to a pair of younger girls, around Allen’s own age, looking far more relaxed than he ever had at the front.

Other people were scattered around the hall, including a few at the Slytherin table, where Allen headed now. He was ignored as he settled down to eat, which suited him fine.

Things had been strained from the start between him and his housemates - it was rather uncommon for victims of Death Eater attacks to be Sorted into Slytherin house, given the aversion to it that normally resulted. Allen, however, had never been normal.

It had eased over time, but in that time, Allen had already made friends in other houses. As a direct result, things between him and the rest of the Slytherins were, at best, lukewarm, and at worst, just this side of civil.

“As uncouth as ever, I see, Mr. Walker.”

Allen started, halfway through his meal already, and looked up. Professor Snape was eying him distastefully, a thick stack of schedules tucked under his arm. Allen swallowed and gave him a bright smile.

“Professor Snape,” he greeted cheerfully. “Good morning.”

Snape snorted, almost too quiet to notice, and held out Allen’s schedule for him to take. “See me after classes tonight, Walker, before you retire. I expect you no later than eight.”

“I’ll do my best,” Allen assured him, taking it. He smiled a little. “I might even remember the way this time.”

Snape snorted again, clearly dubious, and swept away without another word, leaving Allen to his meal, schedule now safely in his lap.

The hall slowly filled up as Allen ate. He saw Lavi arrive first, and then Lenalee, who sat beside Kanda despite the older boy’s halfhearted glower. He kept an eye on both of them; he would finish first, but he didn’t want to leave without them. Kanda was finished already, but he was waiting, too, under the guise of examining his schedule.

Finally, Lavi stood up, which was the cue for the rest of them, and they made their way out of the Great Hall, eventually meeting up just outside.

“We’ve got DADA together!” was Lavi’s cheerful greeting to Kanda.

“Joy,” Kanda muttered with a soft scowl. “I can’t fucking wait.”

“Don’t be like that!” Lavi protested, slinging an arm around Kanda’s shoulders with a broad grin. “This way we can duel in class.”

“I’ll sever your goddamn arm off if you don’t _stop touching me,”_ Kanda snapped, giving Lavi a glare of death. Allen smirked.

“So _touchy_ for a Gryffindor,” he teased. “Tell me again, how does that go over with the Weasley twins?”

 _“Shut the fuck up._ I’ll kill them, too.”

“Boys,” Lenalee reprimanded sternly. They exited the castle, making their way toward the Forbidden Forest. “I can’t believe you’re still acting like first years at this age.”

“I’m not doing anything,” Lavi denied, but his grin betrayed him, and Lenalee cast him a reproachful look. “What? I’m not! There’s not a force on Earth that can keep these two from fighting!”

“But you don’t have to _enable_ them,” Lenalee sighed, and then smiled and shook her head. “Never mind. You’ll duel it out later, I know you will.”

A small smirk appeared on Kanda’s face, and Allen couldn’t deny his own spark of excitement, one matched by both Lenalee and Lavi at the mere mention.

Duelling was probably the main thing that had brought the four of them together. Technically speaking, it was against the rules, but that only mattered if you got caught. So, around once a week, the four of them would meet in the Room of Hidden Things - a place Kanda had found as a second year, when he wanted to be able to break things - and duel.

Each of them had their own reasons for having gotten into duelling, of course, but, well. They didn’t talk about those much.

They reached the edge of the Forbidden Forest and settled around a particularly old and gnarled tree, thick and as elderly-looking as a tree could get. Lavi had picked the spot; it was private and out of the way, without actually getting them into trouble.

“So!” Lavi declared, as soon as they’d sat down. “The Triwizard Tournament.” He spread his arms. “Thoughts?”

“It sounds,” Lenalee said ruefully, _“exactly_ like wizards.”

Kanda let a small smirk tug at one corner of his mouth, and Lavi snorted a laugh of his own, while Allen smiled wryly.

“Yup,” Lavi agreed cheerfully. “Danger, glory, riches, institutionalized violence – why not?”

Lavi, like most of the Bookman clan, had been taken from the Muggle world at a relatively early age and adopted into the legally pureblood Bookman family. It was ‘traditional’. In a very non-traditional sort of way.

“I might enter,” Kanda commented idly. “I’m old enough.” He smirked slightly. “And hell, it could be interesting. I’d like a challenge.”

“I would if I could,” Lenalee said thoughtfully, “except Brother might have a heart attack.”

All of them snorted at the thought.

“I will too,” Lavi said decisively, with a small grin of his own. “May as well, you know? Yuu’s not the only one who wants a challenge.” He ducked a curse from the long-haired boy beside him. “So _violent.”_

“You’re smart,” Allen noted, eying Lavi thoughtfully. “And not just in an academic way. I think you could do well if you were chosen.” He glanced distastefully at Kanda, but conceded, “Kanda wouldn’t do so bad either. Being a stubborn ass and all.”

“You better fucking believe it!” Kanda snapped.

Lenalee laughed. “I’d love to, honestly, but I’m too young. Still, it should be fun to watch.” Her eyes lit up slightly. “And the other schools! I knew they existed, but I’d love to see them.”

“Hey.” Lavi glanced at the castle. “I’d love to continue this talk, but I think we need to be getting to class.”

Sure enough, the few other students outside were starting to hurry in, and with a curse, Kanda rose to his feet, swiftly followed by the others.

“Good luck!” Lavi called over his shoulder, grinning as he shoved Kanda forward to the castle, while Lenalee and Allen followed at a slightly slower pace.

They exchanged an amused glance, and then, entering the castle, split up.

 _I don’t think I would enter,_ Allen mused to himself, struggling to navigate the twisted, malevolently entangled halls. _A challenge is all well and good, but there are other things than glory. Besides, I don’t really want to draw any_ more _attention to myself._

* * *

Day one of classes passed without much incident – though _really,_ Allen wasn’t looking forward to dealing with the Blast-Ended Skrewts in the future – and soon enough, it was time for Allen to visit Professor Snape.

Four years ago, a year before Allen came to Hogwarts, a Death Eater called Tyki Mikk had attacked him – him and Mana. One of the lingering effects of that night was the curse scar that ripped down the left side of his face and bleached his hair white.

One of the effects of that curse – _Diabolus est Vorticem,_ the Devil’s Vortex – was nightmares. Horrific nightmares – images of torture victims and mangled children, of the rotting undead and broken, breathing bodies. Anything to keep Allen up at night. Sometimes, Allen wondered if the curse let him look into Hell itself.

It had been Madam Pomfrey’s suggestion that he go to Professor Snape, to see if there was anything he could do – and Professor Snape, to eleven-year-old Allen’s endless relief, had come through.

Since then, every month, Allen had gone to Professor Snape to collect a month’s worth of Ignaro Draught, a potion that sent the drinker into a sleep deep enough to stave off even the nightmares of his curse.

Of course, Allen had forgotten that Snape would not be alone this time.

For a moment after peeking into the classroom, he blinked at the image before him.

Link – Allen was fairly certain that was the boy’s name – was standing over a cauldron, the fingers of one hand wrapped carefully around a potion stirrer, focus unwavering despite the visibly tense set of his shoulders. Snape stood only a little back from him, explaining curtly in a low tone how the potion worked.

“-the Devil’s Snare seeds react with the Mandrake essence to create a deadly poison, which is counteracted by the phoenix ash. Think for a moment on what the final result will be.”

Link nodded once in understanding, tight but resolute, and Snape nodded at him once before looking up to Allen and raising one eyebrow expectantly. Allen smiled at him sheepishly and stepped in, closing the door behind him.

“Good evening, Professor,” he greeted warmly, ignoring the way Link glanced up and grew visibly more uncomfortable. “I forgot you had company.”

Snape ‘hm’ed, not so much in thought as irritation. “‘Company’ is not the word I would have chosen,” he muttered, and Link’s shoulders tightened further. Allen was growing rather concerned. “If you will give me a moment, Walker, I will retrieve the potion from the storage area. Do not move.”

He turned and swept away, and Allen turned his attention on Link, who was… determinedly ignoring him.

Allen smiled anyway, taking a few easy steps toward him.

“Good evening,” Allen greeted, coming to a stop a few feet away. Link finally looked up at him, rigid as a wooden board and knuckles white against the potion-stirrer, looking as wary as if Allen had approached him with a raised wand. “Link, wasn’t it?”

Link inclined his head slightly and removed the stirrer, setting it down – Allen assumed it was meant to be stewing. “Yes. I believe you are Allen Walker?”

Allen lifted a hand to the back of his head, smiling ruefully – he _was_ a rather recognizable figure. “Yes, I am.” He let his expression soften. “I’m afraid I don’t really recognize you. What House were you in?”

“Why does it matter?” Link’s tone was noticeably guarded. Allen winced slightly.

“No reason, I suppose.” He kept his tone soft and inoffensive, with a small smile on his face. “I’m around the Potions room a fair amount, though, and Professor Snape _is_ my Head of House. I wouldn’t like us to be complete strangers.”

Link didn’t relax in the least. On the contrary, he looked even more unsettled, gaze flicking briefly to the door before returning to Allen, wary.

Finally, though, Link replied, clipped and brief, “I was a Hufflepuff.”

Allen nodded to himself – that’s right, he’d seen Link at that table earlier – and smiled, holding out his hand. “It’s good to meet you, Link.”

Link shook his hand, but his grip was light and ginger, and he let go quickly. “Likewise,” he said politely.

“Link, I certainly hope that you aren’t slacking off,” came Snape’s silky tones as the tall man emerged from the storage room. Link flinched, and Allen eyed him curiously. “Walker, if you don’t stop distracting him, I’ll have to eject you from the area.”

Allen turned and offered Snape an apologetic smile. “Sorry, sir. I’ll leave now.” He received the small box Snape handed him and added, “Thank you very much.”

Snape nodded shortly, and then made a small shooing gesture with his hand that Allen took to mean ‘begone’. He waved to Link with a small, still-rueful smile and called,

“I’ll see you around, Link!”

Link nodded distractedly, but with Snape’s return, seemed twice as determined to focus on his potion; the potion stirrer was back in his hand, and his eyes were fixed on the interior of his cauldron.

Suddenly, it occurred to Allen that Link, like many Hufflepuffs, was probably terrified of Professor Snape.

He wondered what had driven him, then, to seek an apprenticeship with the man, and why Snape had taken him.

Then he shrugged to himself, dismissing the thought, and headed back to his common room. He’d probably never find out.


End file.
